Not there yet, said one of the architects. Not there yet, agreed the 40 people who voted their preferences at another meeting about the redesign of a recreational site on the grounds of the former Osterville Bay Elementary School. There are still way too many conversations to be had.

But some common ideas about the park are starting to emerge, and although there are still steering committee meetings ahead, and at least one more public hearing, a third community conversation on Sept. 9 at the Village Library revealed that meeting one, a brainstorming session, and meeting two, about four options suggested by the architects after the initial session, showed that a few ideas have risen to the top – and that one remains unresolved.

Lynne Poyant, the town’s director of community services, opened this week’s meeting, which was conducted by Jef Fasser and Kathleen Ogden, landscape architects from Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., which was hired by the town, said Fasser, “to look at the site with the community, see what you’d like, and funnel down [options] to a preferred plan. But we’re not there yet.”

Ogden said that input so far strongly prefers recreational playfields (as distinguished from those measured to regulation dimensions); separate fields for ball games and multiuse play; distinct tennis and multiuse courts; a walking and running trail; play areas designed for 2-to-5-year-olds and 5-to-12-year-olds; and restrooms.

Other favored ideas, Ogden said, include a “village orientation” that would draw Osterville residents of all ages; a “highly visible playground” for the sake of children’s safety; and possibilities for street hockey, skateboarding, and winter use.

Feedback from previous meetings led to two possible plans. In one, the recreation building would be kept and restrooms made accessible from the outdoors, and a plaza, stage, and picnic area would be added. The other option would raze the building and build a stage in a new area.

Both options offer a variety of fields, courts, playgrounds, walkways, and other areas. Because playgrounds must now be handicap accessible by federal law, the new facilities would be open to all.

The architects provided handheld keypads at every seat in the upstairs meeting room at the Osterville Village Library to record, in seconds, anonymous audience response to their questions. They warned that if anyone tried to vote more than once, the computer would only record the second vote. The initial survey revealed that half of the 40 people voting were at their first meeting about the recreation site.

Virtually every majority preferred “Plan A” ‘s layout for its walkway design and its more generous parking. A significant minority (23 percent) felt that there should be no performance area (some in later discussion said that the lawn next to the library offered such a space and that the two areas should not compete). Half of those who responded wanted more parking than the 20 spaces proposed in one plan, and four handicap spots in the other.

Asked about the “character” of the site, the votes went 29 percent for “quaint and open;” 21 percent for “natural and full of trees;” 39 percent for “recreational to the max;” and 11 percent for “none of the above.”

The bone of contention continues to be whether to keep and restore the old recreation building.

Although Community Preservation Committee Chair Lindsey Counsell said that funds from his group’s coffers could be used to tear down the building but not renovate it, the town has appropriated $200,000 for maintenance work that would help to ward off water damage.

During the public commentary, John Crow, president of the Osterville Village Association, read a letter addressed to Town Manager Tom Lynch expressing the “unanimous” support of the OVA to tear down the recreation building. Several in the audience applauded, but others expressed dismay.

No figures of cost were announced at the Sept. 9 meeting because plans are still so uncertain and the details of the final design cannot be chosen this early. An informal hand vote indicated that most at the meeting would keep the building if funding were available.

The next step in the redesign of the Osterville recreation area will be a meeting between the architects and a steering committee that consists of Poyant, Counsell, Town Councilor James Cote, Mark Curley as representative of the OVA, Kathy Pina of the town’s recreation commission, town leisure services director Patti Machado, and David Anthony, the town’s chief procurement officer.

Another meeting for public comment will be held at a date, place, and time to be announced.